Suzy Duffy Guest Post on Wellesley Wives Blog Tour

Hi, Live Read & Breathe … & Laugh!

Laughing – that’s my new obsession.

Is it me or has the world been on a real downer for the last few years?  I know all about the world recession and unstable political situation in so many places but really, is any of that new?  Yes, the countries at war change and I feel their pain but it’s a fact that the world’s in a constant state of flux.  We’ve already had two world wars and lots of other ones with less effective p.r., we’ve had the great depression and being Irish, don’t get me started on famines.  Let’s face it, we’re fluxed!

I know things are tough these days, believe me. I’m just saying we should try to squeeze in a few laughs while we’re on our merry way.  Even the book clubs seem have been hit by this global depression.  So many books have been written and re-written about the wars. There’s child abusers who turn into murders and murders who turn into child abusers. Then there’s the appalling child abuse stories – it’s murder on morale.  YES, these books have merit, but everything in moderation.  If Fifty Shades taught us one thing, it’s that there’s a whole lot of other reading material out there.  It’s time to lighten up a little and laugh a lot more. 

Women need down time.    We need escapism.  Our free time is so precious and scarce, I don’t think it’s wise to spend it reading depressing material.  Read something that makes you laugh at life.  You should be in a better mood when you close the book than when you opened it.   I know this from personal experience.  I joined a book club a few years ago and it was a lovely bunch of women. We came from all sorts of backgrounds but we all loved books.  Over the course of the first few months, there appeared to be a few ‘organizers.’  These were the natural born leaders and the rest of us were happy to go along with their ideas.  HOWEVER, it didn’t take long to find a flaw in our plan.  Our books went on a downward spiral – all in the name of ‘broadening our horizons.’  We read something about a lovely young man who had a penchant for watching (very) young girls in his neighborhood. Then we went straight into a book about another lovely young man, only he preferred to chop up his neighbors.  That was quickly followed up by something different – hooray.  This time it was a very nice young girl but she was abused by her blonde haired, blue eyed father and as a result she set about shooting all the blonde fathers she met.  A few of us began to meekly suggest something a little lighter - maybe even with a laugh or two but we were shot down as quickly as a fair haired father in the wrong neighborhood.  It seemed that if it wasn’t depressing, it wasn’t enlightening.  Rumblings began the following spring. There were whispers about a new Chelsea Handler book. Was it true Marian Keyes was back to writing?  Then Fifty Shades hit the planet, and even our book club bosses couldn’t ignore that.

I wasn’t the one who suggested it, but I was there when the conversation evolved about a splinter book club – one that would only read happy, funny books and maybe drink cocktails instead of seaweed tea.  It sounded too good to be true - a fantasy - until one of the women made a break for it. She excused herself from the book club, pleading parental pressure and a few months later, she started up the Cocktails and Comedy Book club.  Most of us moved!  Now we only read books that make us feel good and we laugh an awful lot. We don’t hit the cocktails too hard because we all have kids but it taught me a valuable lesson.  Don’t hang around wishing you could be happy – take the steps to make it happen.

The wars, the recession, the depressing book clubs – they’re all still there. We’re not burying our head in the sand.  But for a few hours every month we meet like-minded women and we simply laugh at life.

Try laughing more, it sure beats being fluxed.

Lots of love, Suzy Duffy & The Wellesley Wives.

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Suzy Duffy is an international and #1 bestselling author. A former national radio DJ and TV presenter in her native Ireland, she moved to Boston with her husband, five children and one dog in 2009 in light of Europe’s economic downturn. Duffy’s colorful background has taken her from working in the United Nations’ Geneva headquarters to being a water-ski instructor in Greece to laboring as a corn cutter in the south of France.

Wellesley Wives, Duffy’s debut U.S. book release, is the first in a New England based trilogy of novels. She is currently working on the second installment, Newton Neighbors.

Wellesley Wives is currently available for pre-order via The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House, and will be available via all major online retailers as of September 27, 2012.

Find Suzy Duffy on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, her website and on The Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House site.